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cdbaker's review against another edition
4.0
This book was great. I loved that it was a scifi/fantasy based in Middle Eastern culture (rather than European). I struggled a bit at times because I was listening to an audiobook. The narration was lovely, but the pronunciation of words influenced by Middle Eastern languages was a bit off, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the author meant by certain terms. I also spent the first half of the book trying to figure out if the Talisman (the bad guys) were meant to be some kind of symbolic analogue of the Taliban, but I think I was reading too much into it.
tl;dr: Fabulous; I overthought it a bit.
tl;dr: Fabulous; I overthought it a bit.
booksandprosecco's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
readingintothevoid's review against another edition
Even though I previously found a book by this author very boring, I thought this desert fantasy with kickass women murdering slavers and Quran verses incorporated sounded really interesting. On page 6 the quote, “She had killed many men in this effort. And did not regret it.” had me convinced I was going to love this.
However, on page 10, this quote had me questioning things, “…women didn’t ride in Talisman territory. They covered their heads, their faces, their bodies. Their voices were silenced…” I’m like wait… since the two MC women who were already described as shocking the slavers they killed by having their hair uncovered, is the author now directly equating women covering themselves with oppression and being silenced? Because I’m not down with that.
So I decided to look at reviews and found a lot of discussion about the only Black character in the book being frequently compared negatively to the other fair skinned MC. And since I had already raised my eyebrows a bit at the Black MC being described in the first paragraph of the book as “coal-skinned”, I’m confident that I am not going to take any more kindly to these issues other reviewers mention happen throughout the book.
I couldn’t find any reviews discussing the issue I see might be developing with the author equating hijabs and women covering themselves with oppression so I don’t know if this remains an issue throughout the book. But me questioning these things I find very troubling before I’m even past ten pages… I think I’m comfortable simply DNFing.
However, on page 10, this quote had me questioning things, “…women didn’t ride in Talisman territory. They covered their heads, their faces, their bodies. Their voices were silenced…” I’m like wait… since the two MC women who were already described as shocking the slavers they killed by having their hair uncovered, is the author now directly equating women covering themselves with oppression and being silenced? Because I’m not down with that.
So I decided to look at reviews and found a lot of discussion about the only Black character in the book being frequently compared negatively to the other fair skinned MC. And since I had already raised my eyebrows a bit at the Black MC being described in the first paragraph of the book as “coal-skinned”, I’m confident that I am not going to take any more kindly to these issues other reviewers mention happen throughout the book.
I couldn’t find any reviews discussing the issue I see might be developing with the author equating hijabs and women covering themselves with oppression so I don’t know if this remains an issue throughout the book. But me questioning these things I find very troubling before I’m even past ten pages… I think I’m comfortable simply DNFing.
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
4.0
This book is not perfect, but I can’t imagine giving it less than five stars.
random_queer_human's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
espeonesque's review against another edition
This book requires a glossary to read. It does have one, but it didn't help. There's an overwhelming amount of this world specific jargon that is never explained, and I was hoping to pick some of it up but even a third of the way in it reads like I picked up a book halfway through a series. I just cannot do it anymore
faehistory's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
captnaner's review against another edition
It felt like I was missing elements of a world that had been built in another series.